Trial and Error
by ForeverFangirl12
Summary: After a mysterious challenge is set up by a known enemy of the Justice League, friendships and alliances are tested. However, one of them discovers that there is more to their plan than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Batman was already at the cave when the rest of the League members arrived. They had sent the Young Justice team out on a mission, and had lost communication with them early on. Almost immediately after they lost communication, a message was sent to the cave computer. The message was only addressed to six leaguers, the six mentors of the Young Justice team. Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Flash and Martian Manhunter.

"Everyone ready?" asked Batman.

The other leaguers nodded and Batman opened the message. It was coordinates leading to an undisclosed location, the six of them were instructed to arrive at this location at 10pm exactly. Just the six. No cops. No other leaguers. Or else. They obviously knew it was a trap, but there was no question that the message had come from whoever had taken the team. It was obviously connected. They had no idea what kind of danger their sidekicks were in, so they had no choice but to follow the instructions.

At 10pm exactly, all six leaguers arrived at the location. They were standing outside of an abandoned rec center on the outskirts of town. They entered the building and there were six giant screens surrounding them. Once they were all in, the screens flashed and on each screen was one of the six sidekicks, gagged with their hands chained above their heads. They were only shown for a moment and then the screens changed to reveal members of The Light.

"Welcome, leaguers," said Vandal Savage. "Hopefully we've got your attention."

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Aquaman.

"We're getting to that," said Klarion. "Geez, someone's impatient."

"We have a trial set up for you," explained Vandal. "A competition of sorts. Here's what's going to happen. You are all going to fight each other. You will be fighting one on one with every leaguer who is standing before you. This is a fair game. No weapons, no gadgets, no superpowers, just mano a mano. The winner at the end will have the opportunity to save their partner. The others will not be so lucky. If you lose, your partner will be dropped to their death. Below them is something deadly, so don't try to scheme your way out of this. We have cameras everywhere, we will know."

"So you better bring your best," said Klarion.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Flash.

"We're sick of your interference," replied Vandal. "Perhaps this will teach you to keep yourselves and your children from meddling in our affairs. Up first is Aquaman and Superman."

The leaguers didn't want to fight each other, but they didn't really seem to have a choice. A door slid open and Superman and Aquaman stepped through. All of the other leaguers waited patiently, they couldn't see what was happening in the other room, but they had heard everything. Superman had won the first round. Each trail lasted five minutes. Batman and the Flash were next. Bruce and Barry both entered the room. They were in the middle of a giant arena. They faced each other

"Flash, listen," said Batman. "I have a plan, but if this is going to work then we both need to-,"

Batman was interrupted as a fist went into his face, Batman could feel blood trickling down his face. He looked at Barry with shock.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Batman

"I'm sorry Batman," said Flash. "But Wally is family, I can't let him die."

"You're lecturing me about family," said Batman.

"Wally is blood," said Flash.

Batman lowered his eyes into his famous bat glare that was now pointed directly at the Flash.

"What did you just say?" asked Batman.

Before Flash could even answer, Batman had already charged at him. This fight had lasted longer than the other ones, it was an intense one so The Light had let it carry on as much as it needed to. By the end of the fight both heroes were battered and bloody. Flash still had fight left in him. He started swinging at Batman with all his force. Batman was easily able to dodge all of them. Batman grabbed the Flash and had him in a choke hold.

"Barry, yield, right now," whispered Batman. "I don't want to knock you out, but I will."

The Flash was struggling, he tried to loosen Batman's grip, but it was no use.

"Do it, NOW!" said Batman.

"Ok. I'm done!" shouted Flash. "I'm done."

Batman let him go and Flash dropped to the floor, gasping for air. Both of them walked through the door and joined the rest of the leaguers. Time passed slow as the trials continued. Each leaguer eventually fighting every other. Batman had shockingly won all of his trials. Vandal savage popped up onto the screen once more.

"Congratulations, Batman," said Vandal. "You are the ultimate victor."

"So what happens now?" asked Batman.

"Now, you have a very important choice to make," replied Vandal.

"What?" asked Batman.

"Step through and we will tell you," said Vandal.

A different door opened and Vandal gestured for Batman to step through. Batman hesitated, figuring it might be a trap, but he walked through. The door closed behind him and he was now face to face with all the members of The Light.

"If you're thinking about trying something detective, don't," said Ras Al Ghul. "The lives of six children are in your hands after all."

"You said I had a choice to make," said Batman.

"Yes, of course," said Vandal. "When we said the winner would have the chance to save their partner, we weren't lying, you do. You can take Robin and leave, no questions asked."

"But the other five will die no doubt," replied Batman.

"Most likely," replied Savage.

"And my second option?" asked Batman.

"Your second option," explained Savage, "is to choose which five of the children you wish to save."

"So save one or save five?" asked Batman.

"Precisely," replied Vandal. "So, what's it going to be Batman?"

Batman looked at the members of The Light fiercely, the six sidekicks flashed across the screens once more, enticing him to choose quickly.

"I'll choose five," said Batman.

"Excellent," said Savage. "The other leaguers have been informed of your decision."

"But they won't see who you pick," continued Klarion. "We want there to be some element of surprise."

The other leaguers watched from outside the room as the screens shut off and Batman made his decision.

_***OK so I'm just putting this disclaimer here because I know that a lot of people won't agree with how the trials ended. Yes, I know that there are leaguers who are stronger than others and who, in theory, should've easily won in hand to hand combat against another certain hero. I understand that. I am in no way stating that the results of the fights in this story are how the fights would've actually turned out had they been real. They had to turnout the way they did for the story to be able to progress the way that I wanted it to. I know you will all have different opinions on who should've won in the end, but for the sake of my story, this is how I needed it to go. So please, don't hate based on who won the trials, I know that in reality it would've turned out differently. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. *** -FF12_


	2. Chapter 2

A few minutes later, Batman rejoined the rest of the league members. He could feel the tension in the room as the other five leaguers stared him down. He was no doubt public enemy number one. Before anyone could say anything, another door opened, revealing a dark hallway. A small figure was seen making their way towards the door. Wally limped out, one hand on his rib and the other using the wall to steady himself.

"Thank God!" said Flash as he rushed to Wally's side.

He gave Wally a massive hug who gladly returned the gesture. The Flash locked eyes with Batman, and mouthed a "thank you" just enough so Batman could see. Batman gave him a nod and Flash helped Wally out of the building. Next to come out, was Artemis. Oliver ran to her as she limped out of the next door, followed by Kaldur, then Miss Martian. Superman and Batman were the last two standing in the room. The final door opened. Clark placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder, assuring him that he had made the right decision, but to his surprise, it was Robin, not Connor who limped out. Clark's eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Bruce, how could you?!" shouted Superman.

Batman was greeted with a punch to the face that made Batman stumble back. Superman screamed as he flew up and busted through the ceiling, all of the other leaguers watched as he flew away, with no speculation on what had just happened.

"What did you do?" asked Robin weakly.

"I'll explain everything," said Batman, "but right now we need to get you back to the cave."

Batman put his arm around Robin and helped him out of the building and back to Gotham City.

Batman and Robin were back at the cave. Once Alfred was done bandaging him up, Robin hopped off the gurney and joined Batman near the Bat-computer.

"Find anything?" asked Robin.

"Nothing yet," replied Batman, "but I'm searching every Cadmus Lab across the country, something should come up soon."

Batman got up and turned to face Robin. They walked together towards the entrance that led up to Wayne Manor, when a giant bang made them stop in their tracks. Batman and Robin turned immediately. Superman was kneeling before them, he fists on the floor in his landing position. As he stood up, debris was falling from the roof of the cave where Superman had busted through. Superman stood up slowly and looked fiercely at Batman.

"Clark, stand down. Let me explain," said Batman.

"You don't have to explain anything, Bruce," replied Clark angrily. "You let my partner die, you took him from me, you need to know how it feels."

Superman locked eyes with Robin. Batman immediately pushed Robin behind him. Robin had his hand ready over the compartment on is belt that contained the kryptonite given to him by Batman. Superman started walking towards Batman and Robin, his eyes turning red as he prepared his heat vision.

"CLARK, STOP!" shouted Batman who had one protective arm in front of him and the other in front of Robin.

"I have to do this Bruce," said Clark. 

"No you don't Clark, because Superboy is alive," replied Bruce.

Superman stopped in his tracks, his eyes still lit up red.

"You're lying," said Clark.

"Clark," said Bruce sternly. "Ever since we met, I have never once lied to you, ever. Just hear me out, please?"

Superman pondered Bruce's words. His eyes still lit. His calmed himself and his eyes went back to normal.

"Dick, go upstairs," said Batman.

Robin backed away and ran up the stairs to Wayne Manor, Batman's eyes never leaving Clarks.

"This better be good, Bruce," said Clark. "How is he alive?"

"The Light didn't kill him, Clark," replied Bruce, "they wanted him back."

"What are you talking about?" asked Clark.

"This trial, this competition, it was never about us," explained Bruce, "it was about him. The whole competition was rigged."

"I don't believe you," said Clark.

"Think about it," continued Bruce. "If this was a test of skill, they would've allowed us to use our powers. But no, they wanted it mano a mano. They purposely set the rule of no powers and no weapons or gadgets because I'm the only leaguer out of the six that has had the most experience fighting without the use of those specific things. They wanted me to win, because they knew what decision I would make."

"If they wanted Superboy, why didn't they just take him?" asked Clark.

"They knew that either the team or the League would be able to get him back," replied Bruce. "They captured the team to ensure that they wouldn't interfere and then used the trials to pit us against each other. But now that they think that we think he's dead, I can come up with a plan of attack."

"Why didn't you just tell me this before?" asked Clark.

"Well I wasn't about to reveal The Light's own plan in front of them, because if they had figured out that we were onto them, they would've killed him right then and there," said Batman annoyed. "Also, I was just about to call you to explain the situation before you busted through my ceiling."

"I'm sorry Bruce," said Clark, "but it still doesn't justify the choice you made. What you did, that's not right."

"What was I supposed to do, Clark?" asked Bruce. "I had to make a decision and I knew that Superboy would be the most likely to survive this situation. If I had picked anyone else, The Light surely would've killed them. So don't stand here and lecture me about the decision I made, because if the roles had been reversed, we both know damn well that Superboy would've been the one that lived."

Batman had now gotten close to Superman's face, but neither was intimidated by the other. The tension was broken by the beeping coming from the bat-computer. Bruce walked over to it.

"The computer narrowed down a location," said Bruce.

"Let's go rescue him," said Clark.

"No, I have to do this alone," said Bruce. "I'm the only one that will be able to get in and out before they realize what's happening, if they suspect that anyone else is onto them, they won't hesitate to kill Superboy, they have to think they've kept the League at bay. Besides, I'm the reason he's in this predicament."

"Yes, you are," said Clark. "I'm letting you off the hook now, but you better be right Bruce, for your sake."

With that, Superman took off through the hole that he had made in the ceiling. Alfred stumbled into the cave and looked up at the massive hole.

"Shall I call Mr. Fox, Master Wayne?" asked Alfred.

"Yes, Alfred. Thank You," said Bruce.

Bruce went back to the computer to devise a plan to rescue Superboy.

The computer had narrowed down the location to Cadmus Lab's in Detroit. Batman was perched on top of the building, he found an air vent and located the room where Superboy was being experimented on. He eyes locked onto the wires hooked up to the programming machines. He followed the vent until he found the electrical circuit that the wires were connected to and placed a bomb on them. He crawled back into the vent so that he was directly above the pod that Superboy was in. He detonated the bomb and the power went out. An electrical fire erupted and all of the machines went haywire. All of the scientists exited the room in a frenzy, the alarms were blaring. Batman hopped down from his hiding spot to open the pod where Superboy was located. Batman stepped closer and Superboy's eyes flew open. He pounced on Batman and put his hands around Batman's throat. Batman tried to reach for the kryptonite hidden in his utility belt, but Superboy had him pinned, unable to move.

"Well done Superboy," said Ras Al Ghul. "Hello again detective, we knew it was only a matter of time before you found us."

"Yes," said Lex Luthor. "The Superboy has served its purpose well."

Superboy took out an inhibitor collar and placed it around Batman's neck. Vandal Savage had a remote in his hand and he tested the collar. Batman struggled as the electric shock went through his body.

"Put him into the pod," said Savage. "De-activate Superboy, he is to have no memory of what happened here tonight."

Superboy placed the dazed Batman inside the pod and a scientist escorted Superboy out of the room. Another one of the scientists rolled out a spare machine and hooked Batman to it while another one sedated him with a drug. Batman could feel himself losing consciousness. He tried to stay awake but it was no use. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Vandal Savage activating the cloning process.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a long time before Batman made any contact with anyone. Superman had already been to the Batcave three times but no news had come up. It wasn't like Batman to not make contact. Robin and Superman were both in the Batcave when Batman arrived in the batmobile, along with Superboy. They both hopped out.

"What happened?' asked Robin. "You've been gone forever, you didn't make any contact, the team and the league were freaking out, I was freaking out."

"Yes," said Batman. "You have a bad habit of freaking out over every little thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Robin.

"Not important," said Batman as he walked away from the group. Robin turned to face Superboy.

"Are you ok?" asked Robin. "They didn't do anything to you did they?"

"I don't know, I don't think so," replied Superboy. "I remember Batman coming to save me then, nothing, it's all a blur after that.

"It's ok," said Robin. "We'll figure it out. Do you know why you were gone so long?"

"No, I can't remember, sorry," said Superboy.

"That's alright, don't worry about it," said Robin. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"So am I," said Superman putting a hand on Connors shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you back to the cave."

Superman and Superboy left the cave together. Robin turned and looked at Batman who was typing something on the Bat computer.

"Whatcha got?" asked Robin.

"Information on where The Light will strike next," said Batman. "They got away while I was saving Superboy, but I planted a tracer on Klarion's cat before I left."

"That's…smart," said Robin oddly. "So, where are we headed?"

"Abandoned ship yard on the other side of Gotham," said Batman. "We should get going."

Batman and Robin raced to the batmobile. Batman was sitting with his hands on the wheel. Robin looked at him, confused.

"Aren't you going to start the car?" asked Robin.

"Oh yes," said Batman. He goes to push the button on his side.

"Not that one," said Robin.

Batman goes to push another.

"Not that one either," said Robin pushing the start button in the batmobile. The car started up.

"Thank you, Dick," said Batman.

"You're welcome," said Robin confused.

"Non," said Batman.

"What does that mean?" asked Robin.

"What are you talking about?" asked Batman.

"Non," said Robin. "You said the word non."

"It's nothing," said Batman. "Just a mental note."

"O…K," said Robin brushing off the comment.

Batman pushed on the peddle and they made their way to the ship yard.

Batman woke up. How long had he been out? When his vision became less blurry he realized he was still at Cadmus. Batman looked around and saw that he was in a pod, similar to the one that Superboy was in when he came to rescue him.

"Ah, I see you're awake," said Vandal Savage.

"What did you do to me?" asked Batman.

"We cloned you, naturally," replied Vandal, "and now your clone serves The Light. In fact, he is with your partner on a mission right now."

Batman tensed at this news. "Robin will be able to tell the difference," exclaimed Batman still weak from the drug.

"Maybe," said Vandal, "but we programmed your clone with all your thoughts and your memories, he knows everything about you, Bruce."

Batman locked eyes with Savage. Vandal saw that Batman was troubled by what he had just said.

"Yes, I know that too," said Savage. "So does the clone. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me and it's safe with the clone as well. Our intention is to ruin you, not expose you. We knew you'd catch on. However, you failed to see the reality, this was never about Superboy, it was about you. Superboy was merely…a distraction."

"I'll get out of here," said Batman. "I'll stop you."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," said Savage. "but the real question is, can you stop him?"

Batman watched as Savage left the room. Batman felt his strength coming back slowly, he would get out and he would find his clone.

Batman and Robin arrived at the ship yard. They hopped out of the batmobile and snuck their way into the building. They were surrounded by old shipping barrels and crates. Robin took his flashlight out of the compartment in his utility belt. He waited for Batman to do the same, but he didn't. He just stood there and looked around. Robin could sense that something was off. They started to walk and looked around as they did, Robin giving Batman curious glances as they did so. Robin saw a locked door up ahead. This was his opportunity.

"Hey Bats," said Robin.

"Yes Robin," answered Batman.

"Why don't you get started on that lock?" said Robin, "there's bound to be something in there if they've secured it. I'll keep looking around."

"Good idea," said Batman. The clone pulled out his lock pick and got started on the lock.

"NON," said Batman.

"What does that mean?" asked Robin. "Why do you keep saying NON?"

"I told you it's nothing," growled Batman.

Robin now had a bird-a-rang hidden behind his back. He crept up slowly behind Batman as he was working. He lifted the bird- a-rang and was about to strike when a large hand grabbed his wrist. The clone turned to face Robin and twisted his wrist so that the bird a rang dropped from his hand. He then grabbed him by the neck.

"That was a very bad idea," said Batman, staring angrily into Robin's eyes.

"Where's Batman?" asked Robin.

"I'm right here," replied the clone.

"I know Batman and you're not him," said Robin.

"Don't be silly, Dick," said the clone releasing Robin, "it's me, Bruce, your father."

"Yea, I highly doubt that," said Robin.

"You always were a spoiled brat," said Batman.

"No that's…you don't mean that, it's not you," said Robin.

"I never wanted to take you in," said the clone. "I only did it for the publicity, the billionaire Bruce Wayne taking in the little circus orphan. I mean who could put up with you. You're worthless and not that good of a partner."

"This isn't you talking," said Robin. "Not the real you."

"You could've saved them," said the clone.

"What?" said Robin.

"Your parents," replied Batman. "John and Mary Grayson. You saw the strange man go into the circus. You knew he wasn't supposed to be there and you did nothing."

"How…how did you know-" said Robin.

"They died because of you," interrupted Batman. "You wanted them to die, you knew they didn't want you, and you thought by killing them that things would be better for you, so you did nothing."

"No, that's not true," said Robin.

"I've never loved you Dick" said the clone. "You're a burden to me and to everyone around you, and you always will be."

"Noooo," said Robin charging towards Batman.

The clone struck Robin as soon as he got close. Robin was thrown back into the wall. Robin sat up, holding his side. He watched as the clone Batman walked over to him, fist clenched. He grabbed robin by his collar and raised his fist. The clone was about to strike when he received a transmission through his ear piece. The clone let go of Robin and vanished from the building. Robin stood up slowly. He put his hand up to his ear.

"Hey dude, I heard Bats was back," said Wally through the speaker. "Everything ok?"

"Disaster, heavy on the dis," replied Robin.

"What happened? "asked Wally.

"It's a long story," said Robin. "Meet me at the cave, bring the team and as many leaguers as you can."

"On it," replied Wally.

Robin made his way to the door of the building. Once he was outside he used his grappling hook to latch onto the nearest building and made his way to Happy Harbour.


	4. Chapter 4

Batman's strength had fully returned. He was looking around, looking for anything that would give him an opportunity to escape. A female scientist walked into the room, she had a clipboard and she walked over to Batman's pod. She didn't look up at him, her eyes were fixed on her clipboard. Batman found an opportunity, he just needed to find some way to get her to open the pod. Batman thought for a moment. He knew of a way; however, it was risky. If it was done wrong, he would die, but it was worth the risk and he didn't have much of a choice. Batman layed back and relaxed his body. He then held his breathe. He had learned how to be able to hold his breathe for long amounts of time, longer than normal. If he was able to put himself in a trance and relaxed state, it wasn't that difficult to do. The scientist was about to leave, when she noticed Batman's breathing had dropped. She rushed to the machine to see what the problem was; she couldn't understand what was going wrong. Just as Batman suspected, she opened the pod to examine his body. Batman pounced on her. He grabbed the sleeping gas from his belt and sprayed it in her face. She fell gently into his arms and he layed her down on the floor. The alarms of Cadmus started blaring and soldiers came in with their weapons pointed. Batman was easily able to defeat them, now that his strength was fully returned. Batman grappled up to the vent in which he had come and made his way through. He was certain that The Light already knew he was gone. He decided to make his way back to Gotham City. He had a lot of explaining to do.

Back at the cave Robin had informed the team and the League on what had happened.

"It has to be another clone," said Wally.

"I thought so too, at first," started Robin, "but if it is, it's unlike any clone I've ever seen from Cadmus, way different than Superboy. I knew something was off. The way he was acting, it wasn't like him at all, but the things that he said, that he knew. I almost thought it really was him."

"Well, if this is really a clone and its loose, then we can assume that the real Batman is still at Cadmus," said Superman.

"Unless he escaped," said Kaldur.

"We should go back to Cadmus and investigate," said Flash. "If he is still there, we will find him and if not, there is bound to be a trace of where he went."

"Good idea," said Kaldur. "My team and I will-"

The computer in the cave started to beep. The local news channel was on.

"_This is Cat Grant reporting from Gotham City where it appears that Batman has been wreaking havoc around Gotham city. As you can see behind me, the streets of Gotham are in chaos and it is clear that Batman has finally -"_

The news report was interrupted when the citizens on camera began pointing and shouting curiously. The camera panned up to see two batmen fighting each other.

"_Well this just in," continued Cat. "There appears to be two batmen in Gotham City now, one is obviously an imposter. The police have been contacted and are on their way to contain the situation. We will update you as the situation continues."_

"Well, at least we know he's not at Cadmus," said Wally.

"No, but The Light still may be," replied Kaldur. "They've already caused enough trouble as is and this may be our chance to stop them, find out how they are controlling their clone."

"You guys will have to go without me," said Robin. "I'm going back to Gotham. I have to help Batman and the clone."

"We are not letting you face that thing alone," said Artemis. "We don't know how dangerous he really is."

"Ok," said Kaldur. "We will head to Gotham, while the League investigates Cadmus Labs."

"Let's go kick some crap out of a clone," said Wally. He heard silence among him and he saw everyone looking at him. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Haha, no offence Superboy."

The team headed for the bio-ship. They flew out of the mountain on their way to Gotham City as the League headed for Cadmus.

The team arrived in Gotham City. When they landed the bio ship they saw that the Commissioner and his men had already beaten them to the Batmen's location.

"Robin, you're here," said Gordon. "What's going on?"

"It's kind of a long story," replied Robin. "What's the situation here?"

"My men and I are waiting for orders to go in," explained the Commissioner. "We can't go in until we are given the ok by the mayor, they have to address the severity of the situation first."

"Well, we don't have to," said Artemis.

Robin looks at the Commissioner.

"Be my guest," said Gordon gesturing to the door. "I never saw you."

The team made their way into the building. They were alone in a dark room, but not really. They could sense that there were others in the room with them. It wasn't long before the members of The Light revealed themselves. The team stood in their battle positions ready to fight. M'gann established a mental link between them. Every member of the team was now in combat with The Light. While fighting, Robin was looking around for Batman and the clone. There was no sign of them. Kaldur flipped out of the way and landed next to Robin.

"_Artemis contact the League," said Kaldur through the link. _

"_I'm on it," said Artemis._

"_Go find Batman," said Kaldur to Robin. "We will hold them off."_

Robin nodded and snuck away from the fight. He found the nearest door and went through. He closed it quietly behind him. He was in a dark hallway, but he could see another room at the end of it. Robin made his way into the dark room. It was silent. Robin crept forward. Keeping his guard up. He was knocked away when a surprising fist connected with his face. When he came to, there were two Batmen standing in front of him. They looked exactly the same. He could see why no one could tell the difference.

"Robin," said Batman 1. "What are you waiting for, take him out, now."

"Don't listen to him, Robin," said Batman 2. "He's the one who needs to be taken out."

"Dick, look at me," said Batman 1.

"No, look at me Dick," said Batman 2.

"I believe in you Robin," said Batman 1.

"I know you'll make the right choice," said Batman 2.

"Dick, trust me please," said Batman 1.

"Don't do it Dick, that's exactly what the clone would say to you," said Batman 2.

"He's messing with your head," said Batman 1

"He's lying," said Batman 2.

Robin was looking back and forth from one Batman to the other. He felt so ashamed not being able to tell which was his father. The man raised him after all, but the clone knew this. There had to be something, anything that would help him tell the difference. Robin then took out one of his bird- a-rangs to make it look as if he was about to strike but instead he took off his glove and proceeded to slice open the palm of his hand with it, never taking his eyes off of the Batmen as he did. Robin then pounced on the Batman to his right, who immediately was able to stop the punch.

"Wow, you're good," said the clone.

"Stand down," said Vandal Savage.

They hadn't even noticed that the man had walked into the room. The clone stood at attention, eyes facing forward, he was motionless, like a statue. They were all joined by the team and the League who had apprehended the rest of the Light members.

"It's over," said Robin. "Shut him down."

"It may be over for us," laughed Vandal, "but we have people who will be able to control this clone from anywhere. There is no stopping him. At least, not without the protocol to shut him down, that is. Once he is shut down, you can erase all control from his mind, exactly the way you did with Superboy."

Superman marched up to the man and took him by the collar of his shirt.

"Give us the protocol, now," said Superman.

"It's a code word," replied Vandal. "That's the protocol, but you're a fool if you think I'm going to give it to you."

Superman growled. Everyone could see he was ready to attack. He lifted Vandal higher, still gripping his shirt.

"Wait!" shouted Robin, putting his hand on Superman's arm.

Superman looked at Robin than back at Vandal, who was grinning back at him. Robin walked over to the clone and stared at him, still motionless. Nothing happened. The clone was still standing at attention, as he had been before. Robin thought for a second. He looked to the floor then back at the clone. He stared the clone dead in the eyes.

"AGAMEMNON," said Robin.

Robin watched as the clone's eyes rolled back into his head. The clone stumbled and fell unconscious onto the floor, his eyes now wide open.

"M'gann, clear his mind," said Kaldur.

M'gann eyes began to glow as she cleared the mind of the clone.

"All clear," said Megan. "Memory erased as well, everything he knew before is gone."

"Humph, you're no fun," said Klarion.

He snapped his fingers and all of the heroes held their ears as a loud ringing filled the room. The heroes dropped to their knees, hands over their ears. Klarion then created a portal and all of The Light members stepped through.

"See ya later armadillos!" screamed Klarion as the portal closed.

_***For those who were wondering, Batman 1 was the real Batman. You're welcome***_

_-FF12_


	5. Chapter 5

Shortly after The Light had vanished, Gordon and his man made their way into the building to investigate. The League rejoined the team. They were all staring at the clone, unconscious on the floor.

"Ah, is he…?" asked Wally.

"No, he's still breathing," said M'gann.

"What do we do with him?" asked Artemis.

"Well we could…" said Green Arrow.

"No," said Robin. "Clone or not, that's not how we do things. He's still a person, same as you, me, Superboy.

"Souvenir?" asked Wally smiling.

"Absolutely not," said Batman.

"We need to give him a chance to start over," said Robin.

"Star Labs in Central City has a containment facility beneath the building," explained Flash. "It's usually used for meta-humans but I think we can make an exception here. He'll be safe there. I have a reliable team, we will be able to run simple tests, nothing painful, I promise."

"Then, what?" asked Wally.

"Well," said Batman. "If and when he wakes up, if he wants to have a normal life, we'll help him do that."

"Gee, if we save anymore clones, we might just half to start saving them all," said Wally.

"Haha, actually Wally, I was hoping not to see another clone for a very long time," said Robin.

The team and the League all nodded in agreement. Being manipulated like that wasn't his fault. He didn't choose it. It was great to know that he now had a chance to be his own person, free from The Light's control.

The Flash had taken the clone back to Star Labs. His team was already in the process of helping him wake up and become his own person. The team and The League regrouped back at the cave, to debrief what had happened. Superboy approached Robin.

"Hey," said Superboy.

"Hi," replied Robin.

"The code word," said Superboy, "how did you figure out it was Agamemnon and also, what does that mean?"

Robin looked at Superboy. Agamemnon was a secret between Robin and Batman. Robin hated lying to his friend, but now that everyone knew the word, it was only a matter of time before people started asking about it. Robin didn't even think any of the League members even knew about Agamemnon. Everyone else gathered around as well, curious to hear the answer. Robin had no choice but to bend the truth just a little.

"Agamemnon is the name of a contingency plan that Batman came up with to immobilize himself should he ever go rogue," started Robin. "Obviously when The Light tapped into Batman's mind, they were able to recover that word. He must've been thinking about it while he was under and The Light decided to make it their protocol word. When I was with the clone, he kept uttering the word NON, it seems that Batman had a mental link with him and was somehow able to send a message through the clone. It's clear now that he was trying to send the message to me, he knew I would know the word and what it meant."

"Robin is right," said Batman. No one had even heard him come in.

"When I was sedated in the pod, I played possum and was able to hear The Light talking about their protocol," continued Batman. "While I was under, I was hoping that because the clone had my mind that I would be able to mentally connect with him, and I was. Clearly, only half of the message got through before The Light realized what I was doing. They erased the word from my head and therefore from the clone's head as well. Luckily, I was able to get some sort of a signal through before they did."

"What are you to do now that The Light has info on how to destroy you?" asked Martian Manhunter.

"They don't," said Batman. "I was only thinking about the word itself. Not what it meant, it took a lot of will power for me not to slip up there. I only needed to think the word because I knew if it came down to it, that Robin would understand."

Robin smiled at his mentor who smiled back. The team left the League to debrief on their own. Batman spoke first.

"Look," started Batman. "I know that we're still on edge about what happened during the trials, but I want you all to know that I'm grateful for your help, and I hope that we can put this behind us. I hope you can all understand that I did what I had to do, what I thought was the best case scenario."

"None of us are happy about what went down," said Flash, "but I understand now that you had to make an impossible decision, that we all would have had to make, had we been in the same situation."

"You were able to make a decision where everyone made it out," explained Superman. "Personally if it was me, I don't know for sure if it would've turned out the same way."

"We're a team Batman," said Aquaman. "We've all done things that we are not proud of, but we've been there for each other through thick and thin, no matter how difficult the situation.

Also, and I speak for myself," explained Flash. "I've done some pretty messed up shit while being a part of this team. Did it make all of you mad, and question my loyalty, yes, absolutely, and yet you're all still here with me now."

"That's how it has always been," said Martian Manhunter, "and that's how it will always be in my books."

"So technically, we blame you, but we don't," said Green Arrow. "However, I for one am willing to move on. No hard feelings Bats."

Green Arrow moved through to shake Batman's hand. The rest of the six leaguers did the same. Batman locked eyes with Superman, who was the last to shake Batman's hand.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you," said Superman. "I should've gone with you."

"You were angry," said Batman, "and you had every right to be. Had it been Robin, I guarantee you I would've reacted the same way."

The two of them nodded to each other, signifying that everything was good between them.

Once the debrief was over, Batman and Robin returned to the Batcave. Alfred had just finished sewing up Robin's hand and wrapped a bandage around it. He walked over and joined Batman by the batcomputer.

"Sorry, you had to lie to your friends like that," said Batman.

"I don't mind bending the truth when it comes to your contingency plan," said Robin. "Even though I'm not completely on board with it, you trusted me enough to tell me and I appreciate that. So if I have to lie to keep the secret, I'm ok with that. I mean, I basically do the same thing with our identities."

"Except with Kid Flash," said Batman.

"Never gonna let that one go, are you?" asked Robin.

"No," replied Batman.

"Whatever," said Robin laughing.

"By the way…" asked Batman, "how were you able to tell the difference between me and the clone?"

"Easy," replied Robin. "You flinched."

"What do you mean?" asked Batman.

"When I cut myself," explained Robin. "You flinched, it proved that you cared, that you felt something. The other one did nothing. The clone may have had your mind, but he didn't have your emotions. That's not something you can just copy, emotions have to be developed overtime."

"Impressive," said Batman smiling at his partner. Robin smiled back.

"Are you sure everything is good with you and the League?" asked Robin.

"Yes," said Batman. "I think we will manage."

"What about the Light," asked Robin. "I personally don't believe that they are gone for good."

"You're probably right," said Batman, "but whenever and wherever they choose to strike next, we will be ready for them."

The End.

_***Thanks for reading. Take Care. *** -FF12_


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